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      • TOP 10 2008 DEVELOPMENTS IN CALIFORNIA WORKERS' COMP
        12/30/08
        As always, the huge California workers' comp industry continues to be an area of great controversy. In 2008 the 2003 and 2004 reforms continued to settle in, but there were important new developments.

        There are many possible items for a Top 10 list for California workers' comp

      • WHAT SANTA BROUGHT
        12/27/08
        Santa brought stuff I needed and stuff I didn't need. Sometimes the latter stuff is the fun stuff.

        This year, it was a box of "Corporate Flashcards".
        They are billed as "the perfect gift for the unemployed or the overemployed".

        I feel my understa

      • AN "AGUILAR FACTOR"?
        12/23/08
        iPhones, iPods and social networking sites aren't the only newfangled things coming out of Silicon Valley......

        Now we have "Aguilar", courtesy of the San Jose-based 6th Appellate District of the Court of Appeal. A link to the text of Aguilar (Hertz Corporation vs WCAB and

      • A RACE TO THE BOTTOM?
        12/23/08
        Lots of stuff is getting destroyed these days.

        In a deflationary environment, there is "demand destruction". Oil prices go to $50 a barrel. Prices for recycled paper, copper and other materials have fallen off a cliff. Across a wide range of the economy, there are no buyers, onl

      • DETROIT, THE UAW & OBAMA:THE FUTURE OF UNIONS
        12/22/08
        Being a chief executive in government is a difficult thing. You have to deal with your own party, your own base.

        Gov. Schwarzenegger continues to have problems in that department. We now know he'd like to run for President (he can't). But acting erratically during last week'

      • MEDICAL NETWORK USE EXPANDS
        12/21/08
        As we head toward the end of the year, Sacramento appears stuck in gridlock over the state's deepening fiscal crisis.

        Many state workers are facing forced furloughs which could amount to a 10% pay cut. With California unemployment at 8.4%, hundreds of infrastructure projects are bein

      • SCHWARZENEGGER: RELAX LABOR LAWS
        12/19/08
        I've noted before that Republican demands on a budget deal might include
        a relaxation of California's wage and hour laws.

        Schwarzenegger has rejected the Democratic budget gambit I mentioned in yesterday's post. In doing so, he raised the labor law issue.

        He

      • ARE SACRAMENTO'S REPUBLICANS IRRELEVANT?
        12/18/08
        User funding or not, every workers comp stakeholder has a "dog in the hunt" in the state budget crisis.

        Hundreds of construction and infrastructure projects were put on hold yesterday due to the effects of the crisis. With the state running out of money by sometime in February,

      • DAVID DePAOLO: A PARADIGM SHIFT IN WORKERS' COMP?
        12/16/08
        Is there a paradigm shift on the horizon for workers' comp? Is the century-old theoretical foundation on which workers' comp systems were founded starting to fade? From a policy standpoint, has the time for workers' comp as we know it come and gone?

        These are issues I'

      • BLANK CHECK FOR BANKS, PINK SLIPS FOR DETROIT
        12/14/08
        Last week was quite a week.

        Cognitive dissonance is easily found these days.

        I could barely wipe the sleep from my eyes when I grasped the channel changer. There were talking heads debating speculating that there might be a "Truth Commission" on alleged U.S. Human ri

      • UNIONS IN RETREAT?
        12/11/08
        Unions have had a lot to celebrate recently.

        A significant factor in recent Democratic victories was union financial muscle and an army of volunteers for campaigns. Unions look forward to a friendly administration in Washington.

        Hopes are high for enactment of legislation that

      • FLASH: WCIRB RELEASES COMP RESULTS
        12/09/08
        Today the WCIRB posted its report on the results of California's comp insurers through September 20,2008.

        As always, it makes interesting reading. I'll be doing a more detailed analysis later, but recommend that you look at the report yourself.
        The graphs are always particu

      • WE'LL MUDDLE THROUGH, WON'T WE?
        12/08/08
        Tomorrow could be an important day for workers' comp.

        Why? The First District Court of Appeals holds oral argument in the Benson case. In Benson, the WCAB cited 2004 SB 899 reforms in rejecting the Wilkinson doctrine. At issue is whether each separate injury must be rated separately

      • NUNEZ AND THE REVOLVING DOOR
        12/04/08
        Zenith Insurance, an important player in the California workers' comp market, has a new director on its board.

        This director isn't just your usual insurance veteran or financial services executive. It's the termed-out Speaker of the California Assembly, Fabian Nunez.
        <

      • A HATE CRIME DEFENSE?
        12/02/08
        It's rare to see California workers' comp in the national media spotlight.

        But it's happening now, as the media focuses on the "hate-crime defense" being mounted in a death case involving the murder of Taneka Talley, a salesclerk at the Dollar Tree Store in Fairfi

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